Friedrich Schiller

“ All England's youth Would rise at once in general mutiny, And not a sword lie quiet in its sheath: Rebellion would uprear its giant head, Through all this peaceful isle, if Britons once Beheld their captive queen. MARY. 'Twere well with her, If every Briton saw her with your eyes! MORTIMER. Were each, like me, a witness of your wrongs, Your meekness, and the noble fortitude With which you suffer these indignities— Would you not then emerge from all these trials Like a true queen? Your prison's infamy, Hath it despoiled your beauty of its charms? ”

“ ELIZABETH. Collect yourself, my Lord of Shrewsbury; Bethink you we are met in solemn council. Those charms must surely be without compare, Which can engender, in an elder's blood, Such fire. My Lord of Leicester, you alone Are silent; does the subject which has made Him eloquent, deprive you of your speech? LEICESTER. Amazement ties my tongue, my queen, to think That they should fill thy soul with such alarms, And that the idle tales, which, in the streets, Of London, terrify the people's ears, Should reach the enlightened circle of thy council, And gravely occupy our statesmen's minds. ”

“ KENNEDY. Is this a fate for her, the gentle born, Who in her very cradle was a queen? Who, reared in Catherine's luxurious court, Enjoyed the fulness of each earthly pleasure? Was't not enough to rob her of her power, Must ye then envy her its paltry tinsel? A noble heart in time resigns itself To great calamities with fortitude; But yet it cuts one to the soul to part At once with all life's little outward trappings! PAULET. These are the things that turn the human heart To vanity, which should collect itself In penitence; for a lewd, vicious life, Want and abasement are the only penance. ”

“ Each word, each look be weighed; men's very thoughts Be summoned to the bar. You are, my lord, The mighty man, the Atlas of the state, All England's weight lies upon your shoulders. BURLEIGH. In you, my lord, I recognize my master; For such a victory as your eloquence Has gained I cannot boast. LEICESTER. What means your lordship? BURLEIGH. You were the man who knew, behind my back, To lure the queen to Fotheringay Castle. LEICESTER. Behind your back! When did I fear to act Before your face? BURLEIGH. You led her majesty? ”

“ MELVIL. Thou mountest, then, satisfied Of thy own innocence, the fatal scaffold? MARY. God suffers me in mercy to atone, By undeserved death, my youth's transgressions. MELVIL (making over her the sign of the cross) . Go, then, and expiate them all by death; Sink a devoted victim on the altar, Thus shall thy blood atone the blood thou'st spilt. From female frailty were derived thy faults, Free from the weakness of mortality, The spotless spirit seeks the blest abodes. Now, then, by the authority which God Hath unto me committed, I absolve thee From all thy sins; be as thy faith thy welfare! ”

“ Fate calls you to a lofty scene of action; I prophesy it, and can, happily For you, fulfil, myself, my own prediction. MORTIMER. Illustrious mistress, what I am, and all I can accomplish, is devoted to you. ELIZABETH. You've made acquaintance with the foes of England. Their hate against me is implacable; Their fell designs are inexhaustible. As yet, indeed, Almighty Providence Hath shielded me; but on my brows the crown Forever trembles, while she lives who fans Their bigot-zeal, and animates their hopes. MORTIMER. She lives no more, as soon as you command it. ELIZABETH. Oh, sir! ”

“ Is the death-warrant ready? BURLEIGH. 'Tis prepared As you commanded. ELIZABETH. She shall surely die— He shall behold her fall, and fall himself! I've driven him from my heart. No longer love, Revenge alone is there: and high as once He stood, so low and shameful be his fall! A monument of my severity, As once the proud example of my weakness. Conduct him to the Tower; let a commission Of peers be named to try him. He shall feel In its full weight the rigor of the law. BURLEIGH. But he will seek thy presence; he will clear—— ELIZABETH. How can he clear himself? ”

“ Not by degrees can we relinquish life; Quick, sudden, in the twinkling of an eye, The separation must be made, the change From temporal to eternal life; and God Imparted to our mistress at this moment His grace, to cast away each earthly hope, And firm and full of faith to mount the skies. No sign of pallid fear dishonored her; No word of mourning, 'till she heard the tidings Of Leicester's shameful treachery, the sad fate Of the deserving youth, who sacrificed Himself for her; the deep, the bitter anguish Of that old knight, who lost, through her, his last, His only hope ”

“ SHREWSBURY. Command your wild, rebellious blood;—constrain The bitterness which fills your heart. No good Ensues when hatred is opposed to hate. How much soe'er the inward struggle cost You must submit to stern necessity, The power is in her hand, be therefore humble. MARY. To her? I never can. SHREWSBURY. But pray, submit. Speak with respect, with calmness! Strive to move Her magnanimity; insist not now Upon your rights, not now—'tis not the season. MARY. Ah! woe is me! I've prayed for my destruction, And, as a curse to me, my prayer is heard. We never should have seen each other—never! ”

“ A most dreadful plot Is brought to light—I'll to her majesty. MORTIMER (stands for a time petrified with wonder; collects himself soon, and follows LEICESTER with his looks expressive of the most sovereign contempt) . Infamous wretch! But I deserve it all. Who told me then to trust this practised villain? Now o'er my head he strides, and on my fall He builds the bridge of safety! be it so; Go, save thyself—my lips are sealed forever; I will not join even thee in my destruction; I would not own thee, no, not even in death; Life is the faithless villain's only good! ”

“ Oh! offer to the living god of joy What thou must sacrifice to bloody hate! Inspire thy happy lover with those charms Which are no more thine own. Those golden locks Are forfeit to the dismal powers of death, Oh! use them to entwine thy slave forever! MARY. Alas! alas! what language must I hear! My woe, my sufferings should be sacred to you, Although my royal brows are so no more. MORTIMER. The crown is fallen from thy brows, thou hast No more of earthly majesty. Make trial, Raise thy imperial voice, see if a friend, If a deliverer will rise to save you. ”

“ SCENE III. Enter BURLEIGH, LEICESTER, and TALBOT. The QUEEN takes her seat. BURLEIGH. Illustrious sovereign, thou crown'st to-day The fervent wishes of thy people; now We can rejoice in the propitious days Which thou bestowest upon us; and we look No more with fear and trembling towards the time Which, charged with storms, futurity presented. Now, but one only care disturbs this land; It is a sacrifice which every voice Demands; Oh! grant but this and England's peace Will be established now and evermore. ELIZABETH. What wish they still, my lord? Speak. BURLEIGH. They demand The Stuart's head. ”

“ O gracious queen! they tread us under foot; No end of tyranny and base oppression; Each coming day heaps fresh indignities, New sufferings on thy royal head. MARY. Be calm— Say, what has happened? KENNEDY. See! thy cabinet Is forced—thy papers—and thy only treasure, Which with such pains we had secured, the last Poor remnant of thy bridal ornaments From France, is in his hands—naught now remains Of royal state—thou art indeed bereft! MARY. Compose yourself, my Hannah! and believe me, 'Tis not these baubles that can make a queen— Basely indeed they may behave to us, But they cannot debase us. ”

“ And thus the queen, perplexed 'twixt hope and fear, And doubting still if she should trust her honor And royal person to the adventurous youth, Sat waiting for the morning. On a sudden We hear a boisterous tumult in the castle; Our ears are startled by repeated blows Of many hammers, and we think we hear The approach of our deliverers: hope salutes us, And suddenly and unresisted wakes The sweet desire of life. And now at once The portals are thrown open—it is Paulet, Who comes to tell us—that—the carpenters Erect beneath our feet the murderous scaffold! ”

“ Hear, Mary, Queen of Scotland:—in the name Of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Hast thou examined carefully thy heart, Swearest thou, art thou prepared in thy confession To speak the truth before the God of truth? MARY. Before my God and thee, my heart lies open. MELVIL. What calls thee to the presence of the Highest? MARY. I humbly do acknowledge to have erred Most grievously, I tremble to approach, Sullied with sin, the God of purity. MELVIL. Declare the sin which weighs so heavily Upon thy conscience since thy last confession. ”

“ KENNEDY. If youthful blood has led her into error, With her own heart and God she must account: There is no judge in England over her. PAULET. She shall have judgment where she hath transgressed. KENNEDY. Her narrow bonds restrain her from transgression. PAULET. And yet she found the means to stretch her arm Into the world, from out these narrow bonds, And, with the torch of civil war, inflame This realm against our queen (whom God preserve) . And arm assassin bands. Did she not rouse From out these walls the malefactor Parry, And Babington, to the detested crime Of regicide? ”

“ BURLEIGH. Be steadfast, mighty queen; let no emotion Of seeming laudable humanity Mislead thee; take not from thyself the power Of acting as necessity commands. Thou canst not pardon her, thou canst not save her: Then heap not on thyself the odious blame, That thou, with cruel and contemptuous triumph, Didst glut thyself with gazing on thy victim. LEICESTER. Let us, my lords, remain within our bounds; The queen is wise, and doth not need our counsels To lead her to the most becoming choice. This meeting of the queens hath naught in common With the proceedings of the court of justice. ”

“ Show those who wish to give thee other counsels, That here thy royal anger is not feigned, And thou shalt see how stern necessity Can vanish, and what once was titled justice Into injustice be converted: thou Thyself must pass the sentence, thou alone Trust not to this unsteady, trembling reed, But hear the gracious dictates of thy heart. God hath not planted rigor in the frame Of woman; and the founders of this realm, Who to the female hand have not denied The reins of government, intend by this To show that mercy, not severity, Is the best virtue to adorn a crown. ”

“ Knowing how Walsingham and Burleigh hate me, And, watching me, in secret spread their snares; You might have been their instrument, their creature To lure me to their toils. MORTIMER. How poor a part So great a nobleman is forced to play At court! My lord, I pity you. LEICESTER. With joy I rest upon the faithful breast of friendship, Where I can ease me of this long constraint. You seem surprised, sir, that my heart is turned So suddenly towards the captive queen. In truth, I never hated her; the times Have forced me to be her enemy. ”

“ MORTIMER (kneeling) . Oh, pardon, My gracious liege, for the detested mask, Which it has cost me pain enough to wear; Yet through such means alone have I the power To see you, and to bring you help and rescue. MARY. Arise, sir; you astonish me; I cannot So suddenly emerge from the abyss Of wretchedness to hope: let me conceive This happiness, that I may credit it. MORTIMER. Our time is brief: each moment I expect My uncle, whom a hated man attends; Hear, then, before his terrible commission Surprises you, how heaven prepares your rescue. MARY. You come in token of its wondrous power. ”

“ Thine is the palm;—thou trod'st her to the dust!— Thou wast the queen, she was the malefactor;— I am transported with thy noble courage;— Yes! I adore thee; like a Deity, My sense is dazzled by thy heavenly beams. MARY (with vivacity and expectation) . You spoke with Leicester, gave my letter to him. My present, too?—oh, speak, sir. MORTIMER (beholding her with glowing looks) . How thy noble, Thy royal indignation shone, and cast A glory round thy beauty; yes, by heavens, Thou art the fairest woman upon earth! MARY. Sir, satisfy, I beg you, my impatience ”

“ I am the man, Queen Mary's secretary, The traitor who accused his mistress falsely; I bore false witness and am cursed forever! ELIZABETH. You said yourself that he had lost his wits; A madman's words prove nothing. SHREWSBURY. Yet this madness Serves in itself to swell the proof. My liege, Let me conjure thee; be not over-hasty; Prithee, give order for a new inquiry! ELIZABETH. I will, my lord, because it is your wish, Not that I can believe my noble peers Have in this case pronounced a hasty judgment. To set your mind at rest the inquiry shall Be straight renewed. ”

“ NARY. You make me tremble, sir, but not for joy! An evil boding penetrates my heart. Know you, then, what you risk? Are you not scared By Babington and Tichburn's bloody heads, Set up as warnings upon London's bridge? Nor by the ruin of those many victims Who have, in such attempts, found certain death, And only made my chains the heavier? Fly hence, deluded, most unhappy youth! Fly, if there yet be time for you, before That crafty spy, Lord Burleigh, track your schemes, And mix his traitors in your secret plots. Fly hence:—as yet, success hath never smiled On Mary Stuart's champions. ”

“ Thou hast but earthly, mortal goods to offer— That sovereign good, for which all else be slighted, When heart in heart, delighting and delighted; Together flow in sweet forgetfulness;— Ne'er didst thou woman's fairest crown possess, Ne'er hast thou with thy hand a lover's heart requited. I must attend Lord Leicester, and deliver Her letter to him—'tis a hateful charge— I have no confidence in this court puppet— I can effect her rescue, I alone; Be danger, honor, and the prize my own. ”